India's stock markets are experiencing a shift in investor sentiment, with a 30 per cent surge in Chinese stocks, prompting investors to move money from domestic markets to China. This reversal of fortunes is a notable change from the past three years, where China's losses benefited India.
Sebi on Thursday imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on HDFC Bank for invoking securities pledged by stock broker BRH Wealth Kreators in violation of the regulator's interim directions. In addition, the bank has been directed to transfer Rs 158.68 crore along with 7 per cent interest per annum into an escrow account till the issue of settlement of clients' securities is reconciled, Sebi said in an order. The instant proceedings have essentially arisen on account of non-conformity by HDFC Bank with the directions contained in the interim order issued by Sebi against BRH Wealth Kreators and other entities on October 7, 2019.
Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi on Wednesday said many companies are lacking on the disclosure front and asked such firms not to treat it as a check box exercise. Sebi rules primarily require listed firms to have two sets of disclosures - periodic disclosures where formats have been prescribed by the regulator; and disclosures of material events where certain events have been deemed as material and must be disclosed, and the others to be disclosed if considered by the company and its board to be material.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday asked listed companies to work towards splitting the roles of chairman and managing director before the April 2022 deadline, as the new directive is not aimed at weakening the position of promoters. Listed entities were initially required to separate the roles of chairperson and MD/CEO from April 1, 2020 onwards. However, based on industry representations, an additional time period of two years was given for compliance. The regulation will now be applicable to the top 500 listed entities by market capitalisation, with effect from April 1, 2022.
Investors should match their investment horizon with the fund's portfolio duration.
Sebi has amended rules pertaining to delisting of equity shares of a company following an open offer as part of efforts to make merger and acquisition transactions for listed companies more convenient. Under the new framework, promoters or acquirers need to disclose their intention to delist the firm through an initial public announcement, according to a notification. If the acquirer is desirous of delisting the target company, the acquirer must propose a higher price for delisting with suitable premium over open offer price. In case the open offer is for an indirect acquisition, the open offer price and indicative price will be notified by the acquirer at the time of making the detailed public statement and in the letter of offer.
After Chanda and Deepak Kochchar, the Kudvas are the second power couple in the financial world to come under the regulatory glare.
A December 28 board meeting of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may tighten norms for initial public offerings (IPOs). The board may look to prescribe a minimum 5 per cent gap in IPO price bands, extend the lock-in period for anchor investors to 90 days and cap the amount a majority investor can sell through offer for sale. The regulator is looking at whether there can be a preferred allocation for anchor investors who opt for a longer lock-in period, said a person familiar with the matter.
Markets regulator Sebi's proposal of treating all orders emanating from application programming interface (API) as algorithmic or algo order can restrict the growth of such trading in India, brokerage houses said on Monday. In market parlance, algo trading refers to any order that is generated using automated execution logic. The algo trading system automatically monitors the live stock prices and initiates an order when the given criteria are met.
While basic policies focus on structural damage, comprehensive ones extend to household contents like furniture, electronics, clothing, and other personal belongings.
It is intriguing that the CBI has shown little interest in the most scandalous and biggest collective investment scheme ever, from the Sahara group, asserts Debashis Basu.
Stock exchanges have sought clarification on violation of disclosure norms by Adani Group entities regarding the alleged bribery case in the US and subsequent cancellation of Kenya's airport expansion deal. In its response to the case in the US, Adani Group firms on Thursday had said "there are no allegations made against the company". On clarification with regard to Kenya cancelling airport expansion and energy deals following the US bribery and fraud indictments, the group is yet to respond to the bourses.
Former NSE managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) Chitra Ramkrishna and group operating officer and her advisor Anand Subramanian ran a 'money-making scheme' during their stint at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has alleged. The order passed by Sebi dated February 11 highlights frequent increase in the compensation package of without proper appraisal, documentation or file notings, and the involvement of the human resource (HR) head or the nomination and remuneration committee. Furthermore, the order talks about Subramanian being directed to "withdraw and surrender" to the unknown person a gross amount per month as "gratitude".
Sebi has imposed a penalty totalling Rs 44 crore on 18 entities, including the National Stock Exchange, its business development officer Ravi Varanasi, former MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna and her adviser Subramanian Anand along with certain stock brokers in the 'dark fibre' case.
Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) on Tuesday said it strongly disagrees with the findings in Sebi's order in the case of winding of six debt schemes in 2020 and has decided to challenge the direction in Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).
The mystery surrounding the alleged fund diversion from Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zee) by founders Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka has thickened with speculations of an amount multiple times higher than that cited by the ex-parte interim order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) dated June 12, 2023. While Zee shares witnessed a fresh selloff on Wednesday, news reports of accounting fraud left investors guessing about the hole in the media broadcaster's books. An order by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in October 2023 had clearly hinted that Sebi's investigation had found a deeper rout.
Sebi has barred eight entities from the securities market for indulging in insider trading activities in the shares of Infosys. While imposing the ban till further orders on the eight entities, the watchdog also directed impounding illegal gains worth Rs 3.06 crore from two of them -- Capital One Partners and Tesora Capital. The entities have traded in the scrip of Infosys while in possession of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) pertaining to Infosys' financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, Sebi said in an interim order passed on Monday.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is working on a new payment system for the secondary market, which could prevent brokers from accessing their client funds. It will be on the lines of the Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) process used for subscribing to initial public offerings (IPOs), where funds move out of an investor's bank account only after the trade is confirmed. Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch on Wednesday said that despite the challenges, the new system would be ready in a few months.
The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea seeking review of its January 3 verdict by which it refused to transfer the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group to a special investigation team or the CBI.
Experts believe the new norms may be an indirect way for Sebi to apply the brakes on dividend option plans in MFs.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman Ajay Tyagi on Thursday defended the recent reforms announced by the regulator, such as peak margin norms and shortening of the trade settlement cycle, saying they were in the interest of investors. The moves were criticised by the broking community and the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). Speaking to the media after his inaugural address at the CII Financial Markets Summit, Tyagi said: "The new peak margin norms are in everyone's interest.
Continuing efforts to boost the capital market, Sebi on Wednesday decided to tweak the 25 per cent minimum public shareholding requirement for companies undergoing insolvency process, segregate assets as well as liabilities of mutual funds, and ease norms governing promoter participation in follow-on public offers. For the mutual fund segment, the watchdog also relaxed the profitability criteria and mandated minimum Rs 100 crore net worth requirement for entities to become sponsors of mutual funds. The board of Sebi, at its meeting on Wednesday, also cleared amendment regulations pertaining to market intermediaries to avoid duplication of proceedings before the designated authority and the designated member.
Madhabi Puri Buch, the first female chairperson of Sebi, doesn't plan to rest on her laurels in her third and final year in office and has set out an ambitious goal, such as moving towards a same-day and instantaneous settlement cycle for the secondary market.
HDFC Bank on Wednesday reported a 2.3 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 17,657 crore for the October-December quarter, restricted by slower loan growth. On a standalone basis, the largest private sector lender's net profit came at Rs 16,735.50 crore for the period, up from Rs 16,372.54 crore in the year-ago period, but marginally down from the preceding quarter's Rs 16,820.97 crore.
The Securities Appellate Tribunal has quashed a Sebi order that had barred Yashovardhan Birla and others from the securities market for two years for alleged mis-utilisation of IPO proceeds.
Sebi had recently put out an advertisement inviting applications for recruitment of two EDs on contractual or deputation basis for a three-year period and asked candidates to apply by July 17.
Markets regulator Sebi has reduced the minimum lock-in period for promoters' investment post an initial public offering (IPO) to 18 months from three years, under certain conditions. The move comes at a time when many companies are looking to list on the stock exchanges. In addition, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has streamlined disclosures requirements of group companies.
'Many do not have robust business models, and their prospects of survival and long-term growth are poor.'
Sebi also plans to examine if any comments made by company officials or the bankers could have misled investors.
Sebi allowed the deal with some riders, five months after it was announced last August.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group on Monday announced its exit from FMCG joint venture Adani Wilmar by selling its entire stake to the Singaporean partner and in the open market for an estimated over $2 billion in a first major deal since the US bribery indictment. In a statement, Adani Enterprises Ltd -- which held 43.94 per cent stake in Fortune brand cooking oil, wheat flour and other food product maker Adani Wilmar Ltd -- said it will sell 31.06 per cent stake to Wilmar International. About 13 per cent will be sold in the open market to meet minimum public shareholding requirements.
Adani Group on Friday raised Rs 4,850 crore from the sale of 13.5 per cent of its stake in Fortune oil maker Adani Wilmar as part of a strategy to exit non-core activities to focus on main infrastructure business. The conglomerate, which last month announced its exit from Adani Wilmar by selling the bulk of its stake to a joint venture partner, had on Thursday announced sale of 17.54 crore shares (13.50 per cent equity) in the company on January 10 (to non-retail investors) and on January 13 (to retail investors) at a floor or minimum price of Rs 275 apiece.
In the high profile co-location case, markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on the NSE for failing to provide a level-playing field for trading members subscribing to its tick-by-tick (TBT) data feed system. In addition, the regulator levied a fine of Rs 25 lakh each on NSE's former managing directors and chief executive officers Chitra Ramakrishna and Ravi Narain. Alleged lapses in high-frequency trading offered through NSE's co-location facility came under the scanner of the watchdog after a complaint was filed in 2015.
Markets regulator Sebi and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) are probing some Adani Group companies for alleged non-compliance with rules, the government told Lok Sabha on Monday. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question said accounts of three of the six Mauritius-based funds, that have invested most of their money in Adani Group firms, were frozen in 2016 over the issuance of Global Depository Receipt (GDR) by certain listed firms. No freeze was ordered for their holding in other firms.
Several brokers used shares of dormant or inactive clients to provide margins for other more active clients. This prompted Sebi to rework its entire system of pledging.
Among other measures, for stocks in F&O segment meeting certain criteria, Market Wide Position Limit might be revised to 50 per cent of the existing levels.
Digital financial services firm Paytm has received market regulator Sebi's approval for its Rs 16,600 crore initial public offer, a source involved in the process said on Friday. The company expects to hit the bourses by the end of this month and is planning to skip the pre-IPO share sale rounds to fast-track listing.
'Investors should do proper analysis before putting in their money in NFOs as most new launches are in the high-risk thematic space.'
Markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on NDTV for its failure to disclose price-sensitive information about VCPL loan agreements but the company denied the charges and said it will appeal against the ruling. The loan agreements had clauses and conditions that substantially affected the functioning of the media company, Sebi said in its order. The regulator said its probe began after receipt of complaints in 2017 from Quantum Securities Pvt Ltd about an alleged violation of rules by non-disclosure of material information to the shareholders about loan agreements with Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Ltd (VCPL).
The three companies have been issued observations by the watchdog, according to the update on the processing status of draft offer documents as on October 8. An observation letter is mandatory for an initial share sale. In Sebi parlance, the issuance of observations implies its go-ahead for the IPO. One Mobikwik Systems Ltd is a leading mobile wallet (MobiKwik Wallet) and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) player in India.
